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British Leaders’ Debate on Domestic Issues

By Robert Mackey April 15, 2010 3:28 pmApril 15, 2010 3:28 pm

Video of the entire debate among the leaders of Britain’s three major parties.

Original Post | 3:28 p.m. The leaders of Britain’s three largest parties are meeting for the first of three 90-minute debates on British television on Thursday in Manchester. Readers in the United Kingdom can watch live video of the debate on the Web site of the British broadcaster ITV.

Since that feed is blocked for the rest of us, we will be relying on either live video from CSPAN’s Web site or the live audio stream of the debate from the BBC — putting some of us in the position of the people who, famously, concluded that Richard Nixon had trounced John F. Kennedy in 1960, after hearing the two spar on the radio. That may be appropriate since the relatively youthful leader of the opposition Conservative Party, David Cameron, has been quoting J.F.K. on the campaign trail, and some journalists have called the somewhat gruff, brooding leader of the ruling Labour Party, Gordon Brown, Nixonian.

After the debate ends, video of the entire encounter will be posted on ITV’s YouTube channel. Our London bureau chief, John Burns, will file a report on the encounter soon after it concludes.

Readers who want to get commentary on the event while it is in progress can follow live blogs from The Guardian, The BBC, Channel 4 News and a host of other British news sites.

Video from Thursday’s debate among the leaders of Britain’s three major parties shows audience reaction to their discussion of immigration.

Update | 4:41 p.m. Some video excerpts are being uploaded to ITV’s YouTube channel during the debate. We’ve embedded a clip of the three leaders discussing immigration above. Here is video of the leader of the Liberal Democrats, Nick Clegg, answering a question on the expenses scandal that has soured many Britons on politics:

Update | 5:40 p.m. CSPAN’s Web site has posted video of the complete debate on its Web site. Here are the closing statements from the three men who would be prime minister, from ITV’s YouTube channel:

Update | 6:33 p.m. Three quick polls of viewers by British television networks suggest that Nick Clegg, the leader of Britain’s third largest party, the Liberal Democrats, had the best debate. According to two polls for ITN, which broadcast the debate, Mr. Clegg trounced his rivals. ITN’s Web site explains:

A YouGov poll said the Lib Dem leader had come out on top, 22 points ahead of David Cameron on 29 per cent, with Mr. Brown trailing on 19 per cent. In a second poll carried out by ComRes, Mr. Clegg was again rated the victor, with 43 per cent saying he performed best, against 26 per cent for Mr Cameron and 20 per cent for Mr. Brown.

In a poll of 1,608 viewers conducted by text message for Sky News, which will host an upcoming debate, Nick Clegg got 37 percent of the vote, Gordon Brown 32 percent and David Cameron 31 percent.

Minutes after the end of the debate, Gary Gibbon, the political editor of Channel 4 News, wrote on his blog:

I think people will be inclined to say that Nick Clegg won this. He has raised his game. He has, in the past, looked like a man who has lost interest in his own answers. Not tonight. The Tories wanted to use this debate to frame the argument between them and Labour… but Nick Clegg has not been sidelined, has not allowed himself to be love-smothered by Mr Brown and has done himself only good in this debate.

There was broad agreement that the Liberal Democrats also won a previous televised debate among the three men who would be put in charge of Britain’s finances if their party stages a surprise victory.

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